a cut in government spending, a squeeze on medicare and medicaid. anything else? and finally hillary, clintons, both of them, global figures abroad, political superstars at home. to become in the four years, does she just have to wait? would anyone challenge her for the prize? could a hot new republican give her trouble, or cause her not to run? i'm chris matthews, welcome to the show. with us today, john harris, kelly o'donnell, michelle caruso-cabrera and david ignatius with "the washington post." first up, will president obama convince republicans to give him a compromise that's big enough, sweeping enough to end this month on a high note? to cap off his election win and get a clean start on his second term. a victory for the president would look like this -- get that top income tax rate up. make minimal concessions on entitlement cuts and get it done before the end of this month, avoid that cliff. this week the president said talk on a partial deal on taxes alone will not cut it with him. >> there have been reports that perhaps the republicans go ahead and let